Would you feel especially validated if someone you really admire did the same thing you did…after YOU did it?? I just learned from her blog that Cathy Z (of Simple Scrapbooks fame) just bought the same stamps from Cats Life Press that I mentioned in my blog awhile back. I fully acknowledge that it was Ali Edwards (of Creating Keepsakes fame) who orignally discovered these and, dare I say, made them famous. But it still felt good to ‘share’ something with Cathy Z (does that make me a scrap-stalker?? LOL).

Speaking of Scrap Celebs, I think I would like to make a list of my all-time faves:

1. Lisa Bearnson: This woman has always been an idol and mentor to me. She and her husband took an exceptional risk years back and started a scrapbooking magazine out of their garage, at a time when scrapbooking was not very big and magazine publishers guaranteed it would fail. Lisa pushed forward anyway and, as you know, became an amazing success. Through it all, she has maintained her love of scrapbooking, telling her story, and preserving her family memories. Lisa seems to have a very tight-knit family and I know how much work that must take, especially with all the traveling she does. Lisa is the only scrap-celeb I’ve met AND gotten to know a little bit. I’ve seen her at several events, cruised with her in Europe, and watch her religiously on QVC. She is the most consistently nice and gracious person in the industry. I don’t think you can fake that kind of personality, you either is or your ain’t and she is. I also happen to love her scrapbooking taste and think my style is similar to hers (tho’ nowhere near as good!). As you can see, I chose Lisa Bearnson as my #1 favorite and it has as much to do with her as a person as it does with her scrapbooking talent.

2. Cathy Zielske: I always just refer to her as Cathy Z because a) everyone knows who that is, and b) I forget how to spell her last name! I’ve never met Cathy nor seen her in person but, in reading her blog every day, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about her. Again, just a genuinely nice person, a loving mom, and a talented person who shares her wealth (of talent and ideas) with the rest of us. Cathy is quirky, a little more on the wild side than me, raises her kids differently than me, etc yet I find so much in her that I relate to. I SO admire her scrapbooking style. She has given the definition of “simple” a whole new meaning. She captures the important stuff and tells a beautiful story while keeping the focus on the photos and the emotions. I feel like I’m always watching to see what Cathy will do next!

3. Ali Edwards: I love Ali Edwards’ style more than anything. She has really created her own non-duplicatable style from the very beginning. No one can touch her, not even close. To me, she has no fear. Ali just does what Ali wants and we all love it because it’s as close to perfect as it could be. I also admire her work ethic. When she is writing a book AND contributing to CK AND caring for an autistic son AND fundraising for autism research AND supporting her very politically successful husband AND looking so cute doing it, I wanna’ just give her a hug and ask, “When do YOU get to sleep, you poor baby??” But she makes it look effortless and fun, so how can you not admire that?

4. Becky Higgins: Super pretty, super mom, super scrapper, super traveler, and has super style. Becky is a woman who, again, shares her craft openly with others and that’s where she seems to get her joy. Her pages are simple and that girl is NOT just trying to sell product! (I feel that some famous scrappers just try to jam as much product on the page as they can and I go, “Huh? Where are the photos and journaling?”). I really enjoy scraplifting from Becky because she is event-oriented like I am, and she often includes lots of photos per page. Her idea books, Sketches and Sketches 2, are like the Bibles of my scrapbooking table. I refer to them again and again. I only wish I’d found those books as a newbie scrapper – they would’ve saved me lots of headaches and heartaches :) Becky seems to have disappeared a little bit lately from scrap world. I don’t read her blog so I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope all is okay with her. I’ve only met her briefly at a CKU class she was teaching but she was lovely. I imagine her to be a wonderful patient mom who is very supportive of her kids (have I gotten that feeling through reading her journaling all these years?). She also recognizes the importance of families, traditions, and passing this all on to your kids.

I could go on and on. There are so many admirable women (and men) in the scrapbooking world to look up to. Who are your favorites and why? Please share in a Comment or I challenge you to write about your heroes on your blog, and share the link in Comments. I’m really curious who you all look up to.

9 Comments

I really love Cathy Z – her writing is so funny and enjoyable. And I love how Ali brings awareness to her readers about her life with Autism and now, with politics. She seems so down to earth even though she is supremely famous in the scrap world.
As for inspiration, I fall for the “artsy” types like Rebecca Sower, Emily Falconbridge and Wilna Furstenburg (sp). Everything Rebecca makes is AMAZING! She can do no wrong.
I really relate to Kristina Contes – I feel like we sort of lead the same lifestyle. We’re both 20 somethings, married with no children and so our scrapbooks tend to reflect that. That’s why I’m really drawn to her.
There are SO many talented women in the scrapbooking world, it’s a little overwheliming, isn’t it? Most of these people are on my blogroll and I visit them nearly everyday!

Hi,
Wow you nailed it on the head, those gals are also my top favorite scrapbook celebrities(although not neccesarily in that order (forgive my spelling, why can’t there be spell check on everything). Although I have to add Donna Downey and Tara Whiteney(sp?) I am inspired by Tara’s photography and Donna’s cute personlaity!

Hi Jennifer – Thanks! I agree on both DD and TW, for the same reasons. Along that vein, after I finished writing this post, I thought “Oh! Donna Downey and Tracy White!” ((Maybe I’ll edit to add them??). I’ve just discovered Tara’s blog and, wow, what a wonderful photographer. I look forward to learning more about her. Thanks for commenting :)

Hey Karen – You’re right. Every scrapper, celeb or not, tends to be so nice and friendly. I always wondered which came first, the chicken or the egg? For me, it’s been esp. great because I’m somewhat shy meeting new friends but scrapbooking makes that introduction for me AND gives us common ground right away. Thank you for your comment!

I have a few favorites too. My alltime favorite is Karen Burniston. She uses a lot of interactivity in her projects, she knows exactly how to make you enthusiastic for scrapbooking and she has a wonderful personality. My second favorite celebrity is Becky Higgins. Although I have never met her, I do like her sketches. Seeing that someone can make layouts with just one or two photos AND with a lot of photos, is just great. Especially seen the fact that I regularly use a lot of photos in my layouts. Her sketches give me inspiration again! And as third I should mention two people: Jen Starr and Marilyn Harroun. They are just so nice! I’ve both met them at Scrap-a-Ganza and I immediately liked them! That’s about it, I think.
Oh, right, before I forget. I really like Ali Edwards too. She seems to be such a fun person, although I’ve never met her before……
Talk to you later!

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